We tried Peloton’s newest gamified fitness experience, Lanebreak Tread, and this is what we really thought
If you’re the proud owner of a Peloton Tread – the premium home treadmill that will set you back an eye-watering £3,345 – you’ll know exactly what we mean when we say that after you’ve experimented with the various live fitness classes, the thing that keeps you coming back (and getting back on the tread) isn’t necessarily what the workout does for your overall fitness levels, but how it makes you feel. After all, when you find a form of exercise that puts you in a good mood, most of us want to cling to that feeling.
Peloton, which is often described as like having a personal trainer on call, has always been infused with having fun and gamification. Get on the tread, turn on the screen, and you’re instantly connected with live fitness classes that feature in-class leaderboards, high-fives, achievements and streaks.
Now, they’ve created a new workout experience – the Lanebreak Tread. Originally exclusive to the Peloton bike, it’s now available to all Peloton Tread members globally and combines gaming-inspired fitness content and music for an interactive cardio workout.
‘Lanebreak was created to offer an entirely new workout experience that combines an expertly designed workout with immersive graphics, energising playlists and enhanced game mechanics,’ says Tom Cortese, Peloton’s co-founder and chief product officer. ‘Lanebreak classes are fun, immersive, and drive you to hit workout cues in a unique way.’
We decided to pay Peloton HQ a visit to see how they’ve injected the competitive elements of gaming to create a bespoke fitness experience...
What is 'Lanebreak Tread'?
When we arrived at Peloton HQ in Covent Garden, we logged into our Peloton accounts on the ‘mill and selected Lanebreak. As we’d not used it before, we were walked through the five-step tutorial (which is also a good little warm-up in itself), on the screen, which takes you through all the different mechanisms for scoring points – from hitting certain paces to climbing hills.
Essentially, Lanebreak is a game where runners need to match or sustain their speed or climb the odd hill according to the visual cues on the tablet screen. In each ‘lane’, ahead of you, there are certain zones where you need to speed up, or switch lanes, to hit those high scores – and all of it, naturally, to a beat-bumping soundtrack. You can choose from multiple different genres and artists, including Daft Punk, Latin pop, hip-hop, 90s and Tiësto. There are also 5-minute warm-up and cool-down workouts, and the full classes go up to a max of 30 minutes.
How does it work?
When you start running, you occupy a lane within a six-lane ‘running’ track. If you don’t adjust the left dial (usually the incline) then you’ll stay in the same lane. If you need to move lanes, to hit the right ‘Moment’ (the zones in which you can score points), then you need to adjust this dial to the left or right. The right-hand dial on the treadmill remains, as always, the speed of the treadmill itself.
On the graphics, you can see the hills coming in the distance and how long they are pretty clearly – you are running up the arc, and then down the other side. The speed ‘Moments’ are displayed as different colour sections on the lane, with a range that you need to hit. For instance, ‘5 – 7.5 mph’. Outside of those faster sections you can slow down (or maintain the speed) but within them, to score the max points you have to be in that range.
We found that using the left dial as a lane-changing mechanism took a bit of getting used to (there were a couple of ‘oh no, I’ve gone too far to the right or left’ moments) as it’s a bit counter-intuitive. Adjusting the speed was easy, though.
Standout features
When entering a hill, the tread automatically adjusts its incline to follow the curve shown in the 3D world on the tread tablet. We loved this feature as it made us focus on simply reaching the top of the climb, barely noticing the time or the percentage of the incline.
We also loved the gameplay mechanism, which definitely ignited the competitive spirit in at least one of us – the one who is old enough to remember the film Tron and feel like she was running within its 1982 computer landscape. It made 20 minutes fly by, without once looking at the overall mileage and barely a glance at the clock.
One thing we weren’t too sure about was that while hitting the set pace range scores you maximum points, exceeding it doesn’t. The game does allow you to select from different levels at the start: light, moderate, hard, challenging and extreme. These are defined by average pace – from light’s 15 minute-mile to extreme’s average of 7:30. In our view, if you are feeling good, then the game shouldn’t penalise you for pushing the intervals a little harder than the set range – or, failing that, allow you to adjust those ranges as you run.
How hard is it?
As mentioned, you can choose from a number of different levels based on specific playlists and workout types. We tried the ‘challenging’ and the ‘extreme’ 20-minute Pop intervals class. The max speed on the extreme class was around 12.5mph (roughly 5 min/miles), which is certainly quick but with very short intervals at that pace, not super extreme for experienced runners. The light/moderate levels top speeds would be compatible with walking recoveries (some of the gaps between intervals are quite short, though longer recoveries between them are also built-in) so ideal for someone coming back to running after a break or injury.
RW Verdict
Kate: ‘I really loved it – it reminded me of a running version of Guitar Hero or Rock Band (two of the greatest games ever, no arguments). There are things I’d maybe tweak, like the ability to change intensity once you are underway, but it was a hugely enjoyable 20 minutes that absolutely flew by. If I had a Peloton at home, I’d use this at least once or twice a week just as a genuinely new and fun way of doing interval running.’
Alice: ‘There’s definitely something powerful about immersive exercise – your brain gets distracted as you focus on the game, and you almost forget what your body is doing (and how hard you’re panting). I was so focused on making sure I was in the right lane that I didn’t look at the clock once – which is usually unheard of for me, as I tend to find treadmill workouts so very dull. I’ll admit I did find changing lanes from left to right a little tricky, but I’m sure it’s just one of those things where practice makes perfect since overall it’s a very easy game to pick up. I do fear it could get monotonous after a while, and Peloton users may start craving the face-to-face interaction they get from live classes with instructors. But now users can pick between both options – and anything that gets more people moving gets a big thumbs up in my book.’
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